You've been warned. There is (hopefully) no stone left unturned in this discussion of Marvel's 10-year culminating epic. You are further being warned that this is the most reference-filled, geek out I have ever written. If there are things you don't understand, whether because you haven't seen the movie (why ARE YOU READING THIS... actually keep reading if you want) or because you don't get that reference, then I'm sorry. This is full stream of consciousness nerdom written onto page. So typos be damned. Please enjoy, comment and join the discussion. Thanks
Poor Idris Elba. That man has BY FAR been given the shortest straw every time in the MCU. In Thor he was massively underutilized in his 20 or so minutes on screen. In The Dark World, he was made to seem like he was incompetent at his one Godly job. In Ragnarok, you may not have even noticed he was a God if you don’t know who Heimdall is. And now in Infinity War, the man is killed within 3 minutes of the movie! 3 minutes! But hey, the Russos did say that the first scene in this Avengers film will show you just how scary Thanos is. Boy, were they not messing around. 10 years of build-up did not disappoint. This movie is equal parts entertaining, grueling, enthralling, beautiful, funny, heart-pounding, emotional, and downright traumatic. If you don’t leave this movie absolutely shook to your core, contemplating what in the hell just happened, sobbing because you have to wait a whole year to find out, then you either were not invested in Marvel to begin with or… you take pleasure in visiting Vormir (later y’all, later). As we patiently wait for the reveal of Avengers 4’s subtitle, we gotta go over the amazing balancing act that Thanos and the Russo’s conducted over 2 hours and 40 minutes. Similar to the MCU as a whole, this third entry seamlessly ping-ponged from one group of heroes to another as they all followed their own missions which culminated in one epic ass ending (you should have gone for THE HEAD!!!!). For this review, we are going to discuss each of those groups setting by setting (some intertwining) and hope that this doesn’t reach over three pages of discussion (*update from future me: 7… 7 damn pages). But before we do that:
WHAT DIDN’T WORK IN INFINITY WAR:
-CGI sometime made Cap look like pre-serum Steve Rogers
-CGI made Rhodey, Falcon, and Bruce look like Beetlejuice at the end of Beetlejuice
-and-
STORYLINE 1: “FIRST 20 MINUTES” CENTRAL PARK (Tony & Pepper) AND SCOTLAND (Wanda & Vision)
In my first viewing, the two relationships that were showcased in Central Park and Scotland seemed to have something a bit off. The emotion and dialogue between the lovers seemed real, but also seemed like they were reading off of a script instead of genuinely talking to each other. This gave me a little anxiety about how forced the humor (*coughguardianstwocough*) and romance (*ahhhhthorchoooo*) would be. But after seeing the movie in its entirety, the second viewing made these scenes more weighty and authentic. So, basically I am saying you need to see this movie more than once because there is little to almost nothing that failed. So much so that the second time through I had to stop and ask why my heart was pounding even though I already knew exactly what was gonna happen.
STORYLINE 2: ASGARD REFUGEE SHIP TO NIDAVELLIR (Thor, Rocket, and Groot)
That opening scene is one of the most intense in any film I have ever seen (comment below if you can think of something better). We all knew that ship was done at the end of Ragnarok and due to the trailers, but I don’t think we knew the extent to which Thanos’ true introduction was going to break people. That man gave Hulk the one-two combo like Chris Childs did to Kobe. Like it was a scene in The Raid. Like we was watching Goku and Vegeta go at it “next time” on… Dragonball Z. He scared the Hulk into hiding for the rest of the damn movie (that is a really intriguing storyline that I am highly interested in being explored further). What I wanna know is where in the hell are Valkyrie and Korg. They weren’t amongst the bodies, and there were rumors that Thompson filmed for the back-to-back shoots. What I did know, however, was that Loki was gonna be outta here in the first 10 minutes (no resurrections this time). There was no way his Avengers failure was going to go unpunished. The interaction between him and Thanos brought out some of Hiddlestons’ best work and showed that Brolin was bringing much more than just brute force to his role. For every slickly-weaved tale Loki tried to spin Thanos had an equally polished reply which Loki deftly volleyed back. Until desperation and love for his brother ultimately led to a death that was coming to him for a couple movies now (even though we did not want it).
Then Thor gets blown into the Milano and we get a pairing that we didn’t even know we wanted until Thor asked “who the hell are you guys” back in November. Waititi and Gunn’s humor played gorgeously off of each other, especially between Thor, Star-Lord, and Rocket. The only (other) disappointment I had was with the continued misuse of Dave Bautista and his pigeonholing into only being comic relief. Mantis gets a pass because she plays well off of Drax, and we only have seen her in this comedic capacity. But Volume 1 Drax had a balance to him. Ever since Volume 2, his tragic story has been pushed into the background for truthfully hilarious, yet over saturated jokes. The balance that is missing from Drax was astonishingly utilized between Thor and Rocket, rivalling the relationship between the “rabbit” and Yondu in Volume 2. One of the few misfires of Ragnarok was the mishandling of the tragedy of Thor’s arc in the film, and the Russo’s completely retconned this with one conversation. That tear Hemsworth shed was a so sorrow-filled that it shed any guilt I felt for my continued biased forgiveness of Thor 3’s flaw. Luckily, that was nimbly followed by Rocket’s pitch perfect quip and brought me back from completely crumbling in my seat. This type of back-and-forth between them continued into the home of gigantic Tyrion Lannister.
There was a lot of speculation going into the movie about Peter Dinklage’s role in the movie, and the role of Eitri the Dwarf reminded us of the types of roles he shined in pre-GOT. It had been a long time since I had heard the deep voice, slightly limited (yet still witty) diction, and brute-like portrayals of his past. It was fun to be surprised by his arrival and added to the dynamic of the trio. This is also where Groot got his time to shine, showing that even though the original Groot is officially dead (thanks Gunn), the heroism that was inherent in the predecessor is definitely within the moody teenage twig. The creation of Stormbreaker may be the weakest of this storyline, but the payoff that comes at the end of our next storyline is glorious.
STORYLINE 3: SCOTLAND TO WAKANDA (Wanda, Vision, Nat, Steve, Sam, Rhodey, Bruce, Bucky, Okoye, Shuri, T’Challa)
Once Wanda sees the Q-ship on TV, all hell breaks loose from Europe to North America to Africa. Infinity War’s longest break between action sequences may be only about 10-20 minutes in the entirety of the 2:40. It damn sure ain’t within this storyline. Wherever Vision is, action is sure to follow. Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight hunt him down with fervor not usually seen in an antagonist’s lackeys. But the Black Order did not come to play in this movie. Vision and Scarlet Witch, arguably two of the most powerful of the Avengers, didn’t even have time to look like they were being played with. If it wasn’t for the badass, chill-inducing, silhouetted intro to Cap, Vision could have very well been death number two. Apparently, Cap, Black Widow and Falcon had been doing a lot of work over the two years since the events of Civil War, because the three humans (yes one is the greatest human of all time) somehow did a much better job with the Order than the enhanced and the android made from an android. The smaller action sequences, especially in this storyline, were top-notch and some of the best choreographed since Winter Soldier. Proxima just added to the badass female characters that could whoop most in hand-to-hand combat. Too bad she ran into three other of those badasses in Wakanda.
But before that, we get to see a lot of reunions at Avengers headquarters. Though not an actual action sequence, the verbal sparring matches that William Hurt brings every time he plays General Ross are always entertaining. Don Cheadle is a perfect sparring partner, and their spat kept the down time greatly paced and intriguing. The awkward reunion generates the levity that Marvel is able to easily intertwine with the serious aspects, and luckily Marvel understood that it should only have that one moment. Hulk is too damn scared to be thinking about anything else this movie. Thinking of it now though, Scarlet Witch is one of the characters that does not have as much to do in this film as others. However, it wasn’t as surprising as another character whose role took a backseat: Cap. He was really only used to lead action pieces throughout the movie. I am kind of glad that they didn’t snuff him in this one yet because the impact would not really be there (he gone in 4 though. So outta here).
One of the best examples of Cap leading a charge is when he and T’Challa sprint ahead the entire pack when they let Thanos’ army through section 17 of the forcefield. Seeing them race each other filled my heart with joy seeing T’Challa turn on the juice when Cap caught up to make sure that he was first to get a hit (I had to double check this second viewing cuz I missed it in my glee the first time). But that joy did not compare to Shuri sonning the HELL out of Bruce when discussing the Mind Stone in Vision’s head. I’m sure Bruce tried his best. Seeing Okoye, M’Baku, and all of the family again was like coming home. And when T’Challa told them that “they are in Wakanda now”, the cheers from the audience almost made me miss the dust and blood. The action was on an epic proportion, but paid off most in individuals / duos / trios’ moments to shine. Thor came in and was even more impressive than when he had his own personal “Immigrant Song” theme. As mentioned earlier, the team up of Okoye, Natasha, and Wanda against Proxima was the most intense. Okoye stole this act of the movie with her combination of fierceness, wit, and grief. But the shot of all of Wakanda (not including what I am deciding to ignore for now cuz its too much) is the interaction between Bucky and Rocket. Dude really picked him to up and spun him in a better version of Rocket & Groots iconic shot in Volume 1. And what the hell started Rocket’s obsession with artificial body parts? Does he have a trophy room or something? Lucky for Thor huh?
STORYLINE 4: THE MILANO TO THE Q-SHIP (Quill, Mantis, Drax, Gamora)
After the God, the Rabbit, and the Tree leave for Nidavellir, the rest of the Guardians head back to Knowhere to try the movie’s second attempt at thwarting the Titan. That didn’t go too well either. What really enhanced the fact that Thanos is that dude is that twice we are not privy to how he retrieved a Stone. Thor tells the audience after the fact that half of Xander is in ruin for holding the Power Stone (sidebar: Sega where the hell is game #3? -sorry, uber geek reference here), and then we get a display from the Aether that is ten times more menacing than an entire Dark Elf’s third act. Not seeing how Thanos dispatched of the Nova Corps and the Collector reinforces just how behind all of our heroes are this entire film. The audience knew that it was too quick for Gamora to have laid out her father like that, but there was a teeny tiny piece of you that was like “naw fam, that didn’t just happen…right”. Of course, not. But that did set up the best relationship and character arcs of the film. We see that as much as Gamora hates Thanos, there was something to being raised by someone for over 20 years. I was thoroughly surprised at the amount of emotion that left her body when she thought she had killed her father. Even more is that you don’t know how much of that emotion is tears of joy/relief and how much is sorrow.
That’s why she knew she had to get Peter to promise to kill her. She knew that there was something in there that could make Thanos retrieve the information he needed. The ultimate means in which he does was helped along by Nebula, but she didn’t know that he had her sister before she made Star-Lord make that promise. He almost followed through on that promise too. The movie did well saying the unspoken between Gamora and Peter without having to overly show how their relationship evolved after 5 years. The back and forth between Quill and Thanos about whether he was a boyfriend or a long-term booty call was the perfect Guardians way to further confirm their relationship’s growth. Hey, Peter even got the father’s approval before they left. This entire scene epitomized how great the movie is when they keep the humor and dread “perfectly balanced, as all things should be”.
This leads into a merging of this storyline and the next one we will go into. After getting demolished by the Reality Stone, Drax, Mantis and Star-Lord crash the party on the Q-ship with Strange, Peter, and Tony. This is the scene where you realize that after 10 years of everything being so interconnected, a lot of our heroes have never even heard of each other. It’s a refreshing reminder that Marvel has been able to introduce the cosmic, magical and earthly storylines with major success. The pay-off of this interaction is some of the funniest in the movie. “WHY IS GAMORA?!” (I gladly accepted Drax comedy) “Who is your Master?” “Am I supposed to say Jesus?” “Missouri is on Earth”. The rapid-fire banter between the four most wise-ass characters in the MCU is a hilariously glorious sight to behold.
STORYLINE 5: BLEEKER STREET TO TITAN (Bruce, Wong, Strange, Tony, Quill, Parker, Mantis, Drax)
Strange does not work for Tony. Spidey is not Tony’s Ward. Wong does not dwell in the material. Bruce knows it doesn’t matter who you are or are not talking to. Stark has had Thanos in his head for six years. Drax and Mantis whoop names. Quill considers Flash Gordon a compliment. This storyline is the best combination of everything we have ever loved for 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Bruce crashes into the Sanctum, he wastes no time in letting the Masters know the threat that is coming. Something big had to bring everyone back together from such a fracture in Civil War, and the fear that radiated off of him and Hulk exhibited how big. Once he gets Strange to bring in Tony, we finally get the meeting of two of the most narcissistic egomaniacs in the room, ship, and planet together. It does not disappoint. Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch can easily flip back and forth from the dramatic to the comedic, and it is doubly enhanced when they feed off of each other’s egos. Both try to take the lead, but neither can take it fully. Introduce Quill into that picture on Titan and the smile that grows on your face from the hilarity and seriousness is magnified even more. THEN, they throw in Peter and you know that this team had to have been the biggest no brainer for Markus, McFeely, and the Russos to write. We see the ease of that quadruple’s chemistry originally on the Q-Ship, but even more so on Titan. These interplays throughout the film create the roller-coaster of feeling that is the foundation of what is so good about the movie.
There is almost no point through Infinity War where you aren’t smiling, nor is there a point where your heart isn’t pounding. The smiles are carried through the film in this storyline’s dialogue, and the palpitations are carried through in its action. Right after they have a discussion on the best Ben & Jerry’s flavor in the Sanctum, Tony and the Masters are given the best fights they have ever experienced on film to date. We had yet to see a battle of true Masters of the Mystic arts until Strange and Wong went up against Ebony Maw. Nor had we seen anyone with the strength and weaponry to match with Tony until Cull Obsidian (at least not a match that was equal in action AND had a captivating motivation, sorry Whiplash but your revenge plot was to cliché for you to be considered better). The imagination, visuals, and jaw-dropping wonder were astonishing as we saw the battle of magic amongst the Maw, Wong, Strange, and the Cloak of Levitation (which by the way also held its own in the battle of wits). The sheer force of Iron Man and Obsidian’s battle left your teeth clenched and hands clapping, especially when Spidey joined the fight and you are reminded of just how damn strong Peter also is. These sequences further validate that the Black Order is just as much of a threat as Thanos, especially since these two could only be defeated by escaping them (Spidey with another pop-culture reference win!).
We then see an even bigger display of Magic v. Magic and Might v. Might when they all have to fight Thanos on Titan. He threw a moon man! A MOON! The perfect action pairings continue with the Power Stone against Stark’s Nano-Tech, the Reality Stone against the Mirror Dimension, Star-Lords craftiness against Thanos’ intelligence, and the pure strength of the Titan against arguably the strongest and smartest Avenger and his intuitive Iron Spider suit. The heroes almost did it too. Days before I watched the movie, I watched a “fantasy draft” of Avengers you would choose to take down Thanos. The only ones that seemed to convince everyone involved had to include on Master of the Mystic Arts and Mantis. This is why the Infinity War/Winter Soldier/Civil War crew are so damn good at making these movies. They know what the comic-book geeks know. They are the comic-book geeks. If Mantis is strong enough to put a living planet down for a period of time, the only possibility was to have her put down Thanos too. But hence, whether you call it stupidity or passion, Star-Lord screwed that all to bits. It did make me wonder how Quill would have fared if he was still immortal. Also, what the hell did Strange mean when he said they are in the end game now? We have to wait a whole year before knowing whether or not the 1 in 14,000,605 scenarios is actually still in play? DAMMIT
STORYLINE 6: AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (The Black Order, Gamora, Nebula, Thanos)
This movie is Thanos’ movie. We already know about our heroes, so the biggest and baddest storyline is the one about this movie’s main character. We saw how he stepped into the Asgardian building to run Hulk into hiding. We discussed how he was one step ahead of his daughter in Knowhere. We talked about how he outlasted perhaps the best defenders of the three aspects of the Cinematic Universe. We witnessed this man hand out L’s for the THREE WHOLE ASS HOURS. He PLUCKED that damn Stone right out of Paul Bettany’s head. Yet his strength isn’t what makes him the best Villain in the MCU (can we officially say that there is no longer a villain problem: Thanos, Killmonger, Hela, Vulture back to back to back to back). Josh Brolin brought his Oscar-Nominated talent to every aspect of this complicated character. He, and the Black Order, were given so much more than action to build upon, and these antagonists shined throughout.
The five of them together created a perfect complement of each other. Corvus and Cull Obsidian’s stoic natures brought the brute strength and silent but deadly personas that showed they were also intelligent but didn’t need to speak to demonstrate it. Proxima Midnight carried balanced Glaive’s silence with just enough words to demonstrate their ruthlessness without falling into the trap of monologuing. Those monologues were left to Ebony Maw. With the absolutely silent Obsidian at his side, The Maw talked enough for the entire order. The absolute zealot, he knows that they and Thanos are shepherds of Destiny. At least he talks as if he is absolutely certain of it. It is enticing to witness because of how much he can back it up. His words are only second to Thanos in the dread that they bring to the film.
Thanos’ monologues gave us that feeling initially when the first trailer was released. Without a drop of what the plot may be, his words were enough to tell us that we were in for something in which we weren’t prepared. I appreciated the fact that that same opening monologue is his opening in the film, but with a different cadence and inflection. If it were exactly the same as it were in the trailer, it wouldn’t have had the same impact. His words throughout the film almost have the same gut-wrenching impact as his punches (ALMOST- you absolutely feel it when Tony, Bruce, and Spidey take one of those hits). He was able to out talk Loki, shake Star-Lord to his core, and shut Tony up when he said “I hope they remember you”. But the most impactful moments that were had were between he and his daughter. This relationship made you care more about his backstory. It laid the groundwork for empathy generated in hearing how Titan fell. It made you understand his logic. Because his plan was absolutely logical. The ends could justify the means. If you were a Mad-Titan like him. You understood why he did what he did, and that moment he got to finally rest could almost make you feel some happiness. All of that came from his relationship with Gamora, especially on Vormir.
That scene is the best of the movie. Forget the action, forget the banter, Vormir is the heart of the entire film. First off… RED MUTHAPHUGHIN SKULL!!!!!!!!!!! As small as that cameo is (made even smaller by the fact that it wasn’t Hugo), that was my favorite part of the entire film. When his face appeared and one of the burning questions of the MCU answered, I damn near gave a standing ovation. It makes you focus even more to understand the price that had to be paid in order to gain the Soul Stone. The Russo’s created a masterpiece of a narrative. They created a possible kernel of love within Gamora on Knowhere. They then chipped away at it with Hate in the reveal that Thanos knew her secret, and her subsequent forceful admission through the torture of her sister. Then on Vormir, everyone on the screen and the audience knew exactly the sacrifice that was to be paid for the Stone. Everyone except Gamora. Her hate became so focused and so forceful, that she could not recognize that Thanos had truly loved her. But somewhere deep down she knew. She laughed because she finally got to see the end of her disappointment that she experienced day after day. She laughed because she thought she was finally going to see him pay the price that she so longed for him to experience. She stopped laughing because she thought she was wrong when she finally understood what was happening. But she wasn’t wrong, he did pay the price she was looking for, just not in the way she believed. When Thanos turned around and Red Skull said “those tears aren’t for him”, Thanos was no longer a Mad-Titan. He was a father who had cost himself everything to no longer ignore Destiny. Your soul was crushed and your heart was broken like it had not ever been or may ever be again…
Until that Ending. Holy crap that Ending. When Thanos said “should have gone for the head”, nobody in the theater breathed for the next 10-15 minutes. He snapped his fingers and you held your breath. It went dark and you wonder what happened. The Little One asked what did it cost and your lip quivered. You return to Earth and nothing happens for a breath that you still haven’t taken. Then Bucky calls Steve and your eyes widen. Rhodey calls out for Sam and you put a fist up for the one “black” you know had to go. You sigh a little because you knew that Wanda was gone the second Vision turned grey, but was not ready for Rocket saying “oh no” to losing his everything for a second time. You just keep taking hit after hit with the rest of the Guardians and Dr. Strange. Even though you know they will be back somehow, you can’t take it Okoye’s utter look of despair when she loses her King. But the worst. The thing that took your heart out just like Dave Chappelle does in Blue Streak is the line “I don’t want to go”. Spidey crying in Tony’s arms is a visual that will bring sadness in people for years to come. It doesn’t matter that Homecoming 2 is a sure thing. When Thanos sees his sunrise and the screen fades to black, Spidey telling Tony he is sorry is ringing in everyone’s ears as they drop their jaws in utterly dejected astonishment that the film is over.
Some last points after leaving the theater and thinking over everything that was witnessed. First, the fact that Sam Jackson can get that word in to almost everything he does is just amazing. Next, I am very interested in how Captain Marvel plays into everyone’s ultimate return. Thirdly, and most important, I am slightly worried about how that happens. A lot of our heroes have to return by some capacity, but Marvel MUST keep some of them dead. Yes, they can (and should) bring the end to some of our current survivors, but if they allow ALL of those who died in 3 to come back in 4, then it will cheapen the impact of the stakes created in Infinity War. Lastly, one other thing that helped to enhance the impact felt is that some of the heroes never got to actually see each other within the course of the film. Specifically, Tony and Steve. This creates more intrigue for 4, and will make their ultimate reunion more compelling when we do see it. I need to know what 4 is going to be called soon because waiting a year for some king of development is WAY TOO LONG right now. Marvel isn’t right for making Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel set in the past. I give Avengers: Infinity War 9.75/10 Stan Lee Cameos.